JeroenPeters

Haha! And it's not even done yet! Stay tuned!

Thnx! Doing this in tandem with Cees Broere though!

Hong Kong Models 1/32 Avro Lancaster B Mk.1 01E10 Limited Edition (Bonus Clear Fuselage) This review is intended to help you through the forest of small Lancaster modifications that were made in both field and factory and (as with the Spitfire) can be quite confusing. We have already shared photo’s of built examples and the first plastic that was available to us, so now it’s time to see what’s wrong and what is right. History of this kit Approximately five years ago Large Scale Modeller spoke to HK Models at the Telford (UK) show and heard of the plans to do a large scale Lancaster. One of the first questions we asked was: where did, or where, are you guys getting your drawings and input? Because we all know: a drawing is no guarantee for a correct shape. And most of us know that looking hard and long at surviving examples can cause lots of errors in detail, caused by post war modifications and repairs. This marked the start of a long and intense co-operation between HK Models and LSM. James Hatch, Cees Broere and Jeroen Peters were shown very early CAD drawings, which made it clear there was much work to be done. HK Models showed patience and willingniss to fix what was wrong. Mind you: almost all alterations and LSM input concerned the shape of tail, engines, fuselage, canopy, wings etc… When you look at the 1/48 Lancaster kit for instance you can’t miss the shape issues in the nose and engines, and we wanted to prevent these same mistakes in the first 32ndscale Lancaster kit. When we first got our hands on the 3d printed prototype a year later we were quite pleased with the rough shape. No details were present, only a solid 3d printed shape. This prototype gave everyone an idea of the size and rough shape. Nothing more. Months and months went by. Seemingly without any progress…. To the outside world at least. In the following months we went back and forth sharing photo’s, drawings and other intel to get the shape of the engines right. It’s weird: when you transfer cross sections from a drawing 1:1 to a 3D model, you might not get the exact shape you want. The computer interpretes the shape between to compley cross sections, whereas aluminium has it’s own way. The first 3D printed prototype, back in 2014. Currently being converted to a Manchester by Cees Broere: Slowly, bit by bit, we were shown small parts of the interior. The detail inside the cockpit and mid / rear fuselage is a step up from the B-25 and B-17 models. More on that later. Release dates were pushed back in the last two years. Sometimes caused by paint scheme options, sometimes by lack of 3D talent. A profession that is much in favour in Asia. Just in time for the Telford show (2018) HK Models told us that we would have a built production kit in our hands, and they kept promise. Just in time (or, depending on how you look at it, too late) in the sense that Wingnut Wings announced their release of a Lancaster a few weeks before the show. A big buzz on social media followed with the main proclamation being: HK Models must be furious! To my surprise HK Models took this news pretty well and responded: At least we know we gave this kit all we have. Which I know to be true. For me it was a special moment to see Neil Yan from HK Models talking to Richard Alexander from Wingnut Wings at the show, sharing experiences in the development of their kits. This is where I should address the oil canning announcement made by Neil Yan. Yes, this was to be the case, but with all the delay the kit had already suffered and the sheer amount of computer calculation needed to achieve this, the idea was abandoned. And let’s face it: if the Wingnut Wings kit (which will require at least another year of development) would not have this feature, nobody would have mourned the lack of this effect on the HK Models kit. In addition the Wingnut Wings kit will also have raised rivets. So in a year the modellers will be able to choose from a classic kit with fine recessed panel lines and rivets, or from a novell kit with raised rivets and all over oil canning. Both will require different paint / weathering techniques and will therefor attract different modellers. Enough on how this kit came about, let’s look at the plastic, in order of construction. The Box Facebook shows a lot of modellers that received their kit, marveling over the size. But it’s exactly the same size of the B-17 box. 66,5cm wide, 37cm deep and 16 cm high. To give you an idea of how big the Lancaster is, take a look at the B-17 kit and detract a few mm. The Lancaster kit measures 972 mm wing span and 664 mm length. Part count: 824. The B17 kit measures 989 mm wing span and 709 mm length. Part count: 709. The fact that the Lancaster is basically a smaller model but still packs over 100 parts more, shows you that the level of detail is higher. In this case we are looking at the Limited Edition. I believe Neil Yan told me that 1500 of these were made. It contains the clear fuselage, to show off the interior. In this box we encounter: - 4 fuselage parts (2x forward, 2x rear, in grey plastic) - 4 fuselage parts (2x forward, 2x rear, in clear plastic) - 2 main wings - 46 (!!!) sprues (including 2 clear sprues) - 1 photo etch fret I must add that a few sprues are moulded together and linked. But still… - One large sheet of decals to build either OLQ, POS or ARG. More on this later. - One large instruction booklets that has the size and weight of a magazine. The foreword has been written by our own Cees Broere. You also might notice the AK Interactive logo on there. AK Interactive has provided information on the three scheme options and will develop a special paint set for this kit in the near future. The sprues that contain most cockpit parts (Sprue O, P, Q, W, X): Step 1 through 16 (forward nose section interior / cockpit) • (Stage 1) We start construction with the pilot’s seat which is made up from 11 plastic parts, and 3 photo etch parts for the seatbelts. The seat part looks to be a bit on the long side and also the distance to the rudder pedals seems to be a bit long. Since I myself will replace the rudder pedals with photo etch ones’ from Eduard (which I’m sure will appear), I will position these a bit more towards the seat. Pilot's seat side frames: Pilot's seat rear frame: The arm rests: Rudder pedal arms: The kit's photo etch seatbelts: • (Stage 2) If you’re building a Mk.1 in early war situation beware. This cockpit includes a GEE indicator unit. See photo for reference. This unit was introduced in 1942. The GEE Indicator, type 62, used as navigational aid: The kit's part. Lovely detail: The kit's supplied radio: And the real thing. No complaining here: • (Stage 5) Also: this cockpit includes a Fishpond indicator (next to the radio set) and was only introduced in 1944. Again: see photo for reference. The fishpond indicator has a visible back which is moulded hollow. An error pointed out by our team and now receives a photo etch backing plate. The Fishpond indicator: The complete Fishpond installation: • Also: The HS2 unit (radar) which is also included in the kit only saw service in 1943. Note that it works in co-operation with the supplied radar bulge. More on this part later. Using these parts is not necessarily wrong, since some Mk.1’s had this equipment fitted as the war continued. • (Stage 9) The instrument panel is quite nice but could have been a bit more detailed. The throttle levers for instance stand out… In reality these had two gracefully formed outer levers and two short levers in the middle. The HK Models levers look different. If you look at the Airscale offering, you’ll see what we mean. A nice illustration that shows you what is what: The kit's panel: This is what the throttle levers should look like: Here's a look at the Airscale panel: • (Stage 10) Part P26 is the Williamson F24 camera. One feature that is missing (we don’t know why) is the cone / lense of the camera. You’ll have to add this yourself. The kit's camera, seen from the top, with correct detail: The real thing: • (Stage 11) The trimming console (part number 59) next to the pilot’s seat (right side) should feature two star shaped trimming wheels. These are absent. See photo for reference. This is typically one of those details that an Eduard cockpit set will include… The trimming wheel console seen from above: Here's the kit's steering wheel, lacking the wheel brake lever on the left: And here's a look at the real thing. As you can see, the dimple in the middle, should be a dome: • The back of the steering wheel column is hollow. This should be solid / closed. So this needs to be filled. • The flight engineer panel (part P1) should be a separate panel from the panels that are alongside of it. These panels protect the wiring behind it. Please note that the Airscale photo etch supplies this panel separately. The kit's engineer panel: The real deal: The Airscale offering: • (Stage 13) The bomb aiming / computer (part P64). This element is quite visible through the glass domed nose and needs a bit of attention. First of all: If you’re building an early Mk.1 (pre 1942) you’d need to use a different bomb aiming mechanism; the CSBS (course setting bomb sight). Also note that the CSBS sight did not have a computer attached to it (part 15). If you are building a post 1942 Lancaster, this Mk.XIV will probably be correct, but still needs a bit more detail. See photo’s for reference. The early CSBS sight: The later Mk.XIV sight: Part 64, the Mk.XIV sight as supplied by the kit: • (Stage 15) The instructions call for a seatbelt on the bomb aimer’s seat, but as far as we know, it did not have these. So maybe better to leave them off. • (Stage 16) The cockpit window (part Cc1). In our honest opinion there should have been an inner cockpit framing. Like HK Models supplied on their Mosquito kit. The forward windscreen part of this frame was a solid cast part. The middle section featured a stainless steel tube frame and the rear section was made of wood. So not all of it was a round frame. A feature that will be included in the Wingnut Wings kit. However this will be made from square shaped tubing, which isn’t correct either, since the middle section needs to be round. Also: the rear part of the cockpit glazing (think of it as forward, mid and rear affair) did not have framing on the outside. If you, as per instructions, first paint the framing in the colour of the inside framing (black), followed by the outside colour, you're getting close to how it should look. Another thing are the separate bubble shaped windows. These glue on separately. Not exactly correct, since the pilot is supposed to stick his head in those, which is not possible if you glue these on. I'd recommend glueing these with Future. Early Mk.1's did not have these bubble shaped domes, later Mk.1's sometimes had only one and late Mk.1's often had two. So again: check your references. The cockpit window: The separate bubble: And here's a shot that clearly shows the tubular cockpit framing and bubble window: And while we're on it. The inside cockpit featured curtains that were used to blacken out any light from the cockpit, making the Lanc less visible at night. You might want to add this feature too. Note the wiring the curtains run along: TO BE CONTINUED!

Thnx guys! Celebrating in Germany!

You're right and i did tingle with it, but in the end i wanted to show the four roads surrounding the site and I did like the fact the crash location was right under it.. I'm anal that way

More pics! I wasn't happy with the huge aerial photo base. So I had one printed new, to the exact size of a wooden plinth i bought. I marked the crash location with concentric circles (in the shape of a RAF roundel). Only need to blend the dibond panel to the wood more. Then to find a way to display the crash relic to the wooden base.

Had to check whether i spelled furry or fury...

No he doesn’t. It’s for his birthday in february.

First snippets. Really liking the detail. The wheels are made up from three layers. Spokes are PE.

A little side project! My father in law owns and rides a Harley WLA. He competes in the Liege - Nancy - Liege Rally every single year. A classic bike challenge. This year his bike broke down and for the first time he wasn't able to finish. So this is my gift of comfort to him. I'm using the Miniart kit.

Spectacular scratching!! Welcome to LSM!

It is big! And cumbersome. Hard to handle. My 219 is in the same stage. Keep it up!

Nice!! I've got an Asuka Sherman M4A3E8 waiting to happen in Fury markings...

Lovely kit

Great story!!! Now build the bugger!